NCAA Wrestling Championships 2017: Results, Team Standings After Thursday
The NCAA is taking center stage this weekend as the 2017 wrestling championships began Thursday from St. Louis, with Penn State seeking a third team title in four years.
The Big Ten has been the dominant wrestling conference for a decade, winning every team title since 2007. Oklahoma State was the last team outside the Big Ten to take home top honors.
Oklahoma State's Dean Hell (141 pounds), Penn State's Zain Retherford (149 pounds), Illinois' Isaiah Martinez (165 pounds), Ohio State's Myles Martin (174 pounds), Cornell's Gabe Dean (184 pounds), Missouri's J'den Cox (197 pounds) and Ohio State's Kyle Snyder (285 pounds) are all defending individual champions looking for another shot at glory.
Martinez took on the challenge of moving up in weight class from last year, when he won an individual title at 157 pounds, and it's paid off with him being the top-ranked 165-pound wrestler in the country this season.
| 1 | Penn State | 30.5 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 26 |
| 3 | Oklahoma State | 25.5 |
| 4 | Iowa | 24.5 |
| 5 | Missouri | 20 |
| 6 | Minnesota | 18.5 |
| 7 | Virginia Tech | 18 |
| 8 | Cornell | 17.5 |
It was a fairly chalk start to things during the first-round session. The only significant upset came when Oklahoma State's Kyle Crutchmer, who entered the championships as the seventh-ranked 174-pound wrestler in the nation, was knocked off by Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville's Jake Residori 6-5.
NCAA Wrestling provided the GIF of Residori's reaction after having his hand raised in victory:
Crutchmer seemed to be peaking at the right time after winning the Big 12 championship two weeks ago by defeating Oklahoma's Matt Reed in the final. He did rebound with a win in the wrestle-backs to keep hope alive for himself and the Cowboys heading into Friday.
That was Oklahoma State's only defeat in the first round, as the Cowboys went 9-1 overall and putting them one point behind Penn State heading into the evening session.
Things got more interesting during the second session. Martin's quest for another title in the 174-pound division was upended by Illinois' Emery Parker 14-9. Ohio State remains in the mix for the team title, but it will take a Herculean effort without Martin.
Oklahoma State again suffered a huge loss, this time in the 149-pound class, when No. 2 seed Anthony Collica was taken out by Rutgers' Ken Theobold 9-3 in overtime.
Theobold will have the chance to shock the world again Friday when he takes on Retherford, who has won 61 straight matches overall, in the quarterfinals.
Nebraska's Tim Lambert, who was the No. 5 seed at 125 pounds, got knocked out by North Carolina State's Sean Fausz 3-1.
As noted by Ryan Tice of The Wolfpacker, Fausz has put himself one win away from being part of a prestigious group this year:
In the 141-pound division, Minnesota got a huge boost when Tommy Thorn scored an upset win over the No. 3 seed, Joey McKenna of Stanford, with this pinfall in overtime, via NCAA Wrestling:
The match went to a review after regulation because the referee failed to grant Thorn near-fall points that led to the extra time.
Looking at the big picture, though, this remains Penn State's world, and everyone else is playing in it. The Nittany Lions went 15-1 on the opening day to take the overall lead, though there was one Cinderella story to celebrate:
Penn State has been the nation's premier wrestling program this decade with five national titles since 2011. Everything is going the Nittany Lions' way after the first day at the wrestling championships with no one really stepping up to provide a challenge.
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